Last week, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces Engineering Brigade signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Education and Sports to renovate Namboole Stadium at a cost of Uganda Shillings 248 billion.
This comes after the same stadium was renovated in 2022 at a cost of Uganda Shillings 97 billion. Just last year, about Uganda Shillings 500 billion was spent on the construction of Hoima City Stadium and its arena. These are welcome developments. In many ways, they are long overdue.
Credit must go to Parliament and the UPDF Engineering Brigade for this value addition to Uganda’s sports sector.
It is particularly encouraging that the works are being carried out by a Ugandan construction entity. I have long argued that whenever a Ugandan company or individual has the capacity to execute such multibillion projects, the work should not be outsourced to foreign firms. Doing so often results in significant financial outflows, with foreign entities benefiting more than our own citizens whose taxes fund these projects.
However, we now face a serious challenge. Competition stadia are being constructed and renovated while there is insufficient attention given to training arenas.
Globally, daily training facilities are distinct from competition venues. For instance, while Manchester United plays its competitive matches at Old Trafford, the team trains at Carrington, a separate facility. Carrington is critical to the club’s success because without proper training, performance at Old Trafford would suffer.
No athlete can win a competition without adequate preparation. Building competition stadia before establishing training arenas risks undermining our players’ performance.
It is ironic that the army, which understands that no soldier should be deployed to the battlefield without proper training, is involved in constructing competition facilities without corresponding investment in training infrastructure. That said, the responsibility for prioritisation may rest more with the Ministry of Education and Sports than with the UPDF Engineering Brigade.
The UPDF Engineering Brigade is a contractor tasked with executing assigned projects. Determining priorities within the sports sector is primarily the role of the ministry. The brigade can only implement what it is contracted and funded to do, and may not be positioned to determine sectoral development priorities.
Athletes, much like soldiers, require structured preparation before entering competition. Participation in major tournaments is a high stakes endeavour with clear winners and losers. The consequences can be life changing. Some athletes earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money, while others see their careers decline due to repeated failure. In many respects, competitive sport resembles an economic contest that determines financial success or hardship.
Reports have shown that Chinese table tennis players often undergo military style training with the People’s Liberation Army when preparing for major international competitions such as the World Championships and the Olympic Games. The aim is to enhance physical fitness and mental resilience. Such preparation may partly explain China’s consistent success in global table tennis events.
Sending athletes into competition without adequate training facilities is a strategic error. Constructing competition stadia while national sports federations lack proper training arenas distorts the established development and performance pathway. This imbalance helps explain Uganda’s recurring struggles at major international competitions.
A rough estimate suggests that Uganda requires about 30 training arenas to serve the 52 sports federations currently licensed by the National Council of Sports.
These facilities need not match the sophistication of competition stadia. Modern, well equipped indoor halls capable of hosting small events for about 2,000 spectators would suffice. Consultations with several architects indicate that such a facility could cost approximately Uganda Shillings 2 billion. The total cost for 30 arenas would therefore be about Uganda Shillings 60 billion.
If Uganda can allocate approximately Uganda Shillings 820 billion for the construction and renovation of competition stadia, allocating 60 billion for training arenas should be achievable. The importance of training before deployment is well understood within the UPDF. The same principle should guide sports development.
The Ministry of Education and Sports should urgently table a budget before Parliament to enable the UPDF Engineering Brigade to construct national training centres for sports federations in the next financial year beginning July 2026. Proper preparation is the foundation of competitive success, and investment in training infrastructure is essential for Uganda’s long term sporting progress.
The writer is a Bush Lawyer, Former President of the Uganda Table Tennis Association, Secretary General of the Union of Uganda Sports Federations and Associations, and Executive Board Member of the Uganda Olympic Committee.
